Tangelo, Minneola* (S+)

MINNEOLAs are deep red orange, very sweet, and have high juice content *One of Greg's favorite fruit trees for the Valley! Minneola is a hybrid of Duncan grapefruit and Dancy tangerine produced in Florida by the USDA and named and released in 1931. Most Minneola fruit are characterized by a stem-end neck which tends to make the fruit appear pear or bell-shaped. The fruit is usually large, typically 3 - 3½ inches in diameter. The peel is relatively thin, smooth, and tends to adhere to the internal fruit surface. Fruit produced on trees in solid plantings of Minneola are likely to be seedless (or nearly so), while trees in mixed plantings will typically have 7-12 seeds due to the influence of cross-pollination. Minneola should be harvested late in the season to ensure the fruit reaches a desirable sugar to acid ratio. If left on the tree too long, the following crop will yield less fruit. Minneola trees are quite vigorous, and given adequate room to develop, will make large trees. They also tend to be fairly cold hardy. Minneola blossoms are self-incompatible and must be cross-pollinated by a suitable pollinator to ensure good fruit set. Most mandarin-types are suitable pollinators, except for Satsumas and Minneola’s siblings, Orlando, and Seminole. NOTE: The asterisk means it is one of Greg's favorites, the (S+) means is it self fruitful but does better with a mandarin nearby.